Fitchburg to start one-lane Main St. project Tuesday

Fitchburg officials are poised to turn a section of Main Street into a single-lane road, with a bicycle lane and angled parking.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE FILE PHOTO

FITCHBURG - The city on Tuesday night begins the work that will reduce motor-vehicle traffic on Main Street to one lane while creating a bicycle lane, all with the goal of a safer, more attractive downtown corridor. Work will be performed between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., beginning Tuesday night and ending Friday morning, weather permitting.

Along with new pavement striping and associated street signage, landscape planters will be placed along the south side of Main Street (from Blossom Street to just before Central Street) to provide separation between the vehicular travel lane and the new bike lane.
The one-lane Main Street project is part an effort to improve safety and accessibility for all users of the downtown, including pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders.

Developed under the guiding principles of the national "Complete Streets" movement, the changes will lead to safer and more attractive public spaces, Mary Jo Bohart, the city's economic development director, said in a statement released Friday.
Bohart said by creating an environment that is more inviting to residents and visitors, local professionals and Fitchburg State University students, each will have a more welcoming and enjoyable experience within the downtown.
It is hoped the new layout will also be more conducive to commerce.

The city's Department of Public Works will perform street sweeping before the line painting work, and will install any associated new signage along with planter boxes on the south side of the street.

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The plan briefly stalled in July, when residents and business owners signed two petitions asking city councilors to reconsider their May vote to change Main Street from two lanes to one.

Opponents of the plan argued that a onelane Main Street would back up traffic and hurt economic development.
At the time, Mayor Stephen DiNatale said that unless a petition was filed asking the council to vote to stop the onelane plan, his office would move forward with its implementation.

No such petition was filed, and the project moved forward.

In August, Department of Public Works Commissioner Lenny Laakso said his department had the pavementstriping plan ready and that he ordered 25 street signs, including signs for bike lanes, handicapped parking, loading zones and signs that indicate merging lanes.

Main Street will be one lane for a one-year trial, Bohart said, unless safety or economic issues are so obvious that the mayor feels it's necessary to stop the trial.

Through the pilot year the Police and Fire departments will monitor traffic patterns, as well as collect public input on the onelane plan, during the pilot year.
The city will also poll businesses and commercial landlords twice during the year: once a month or two after the trial begins, and a second time six to nine months into it.

Based on that data, and with input from the police, fire, public works and community development departments, DiNatale will make a final determination as far as the next steps for Main Street.
Bohart said she is making herself available as a contact to Main Street businesses.

The project was designed by landscape architectural firm Andrew T. Leonard Associates.

Main Street will be one lane for a one-year trial, Bohart said, unless safety or economic issues are so obvious that the mayor feels it's necessary to stop the trial.

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